FDR
How Was President Roosevelt an Important Factor in the Great Depression?
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Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Democrat who was elected President on March 4, 1933 and became the 32nd president of the United States. During his term, FDR started to bring America out of the Great Depression. President Roosevelt greatly expanded the role of government in order to fight the economic depression. In his first inaugural address to the nation, FDR stated, “I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis — broad [Presidential] power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe” (National Archives 1). Roosevelt wanted to make the Great Depression seem like a battle that needed to be overcome. FDR knew that the nation was in poverty — his comparison of the Great Depression to war was an idea he followed through with. He spend tons of government money to end the economic recession just as if he were trying to end a foreign attack. This was known as his “New Deal”.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Democrat who was elected President on March 4, 1933 and became the 32nd president of the United States. During his term, FDR started to bring America out of the Great Depression. President Roosevelt greatly expanded the role of government in order to fight the economic depression. In his first inaugural address to the nation, FDR stated, “I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis — broad [Presidential] power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe” (National Archives 1). Roosevelt wanted to make the Great Depression seem like a battle that needed to be overcome. FDR knew that the nation was in poverty — his comparison of the Great Depression to war was an idea he followed through with. He spend tons of government money to end the economic recession just as if he were trying to end a foreign attack. This was known as his “New Deal”.
What Philosophies Did FDR Believe In?
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FRD believed the opposite of Hoover’s beliefs. Roosevelt did not have an issue with spending government money to help the poor. He was a firm believer that the government should intervene in businesses and people’s social lives in order to create equality for all. Also, Roosevelt had very liberal views about government, whereas Hoover was a conservative. His most significant philosophy was that there should be unprecedented government actions during what he thought was an unprecedented time. In his presidential speech, he notes, “These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men” (National Archives and Records Administration 1). He used the government’s money to help Americans start to pick themselves back up, known as government stimulus spending. Some people feared that he was shifting towards socialism because of how centralized he made the federal government. Nevertheless, this was only to help Americans get back on their feet and create a safety net for the nation.
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FRD believed the opposite of Hoover’s beliefs. Roosevelt did not have an issue with spending government money to help the poor. He was a firm believer that the government should intervene in businesses and people’s social lives in order to create equality for all. Also, Roosevelt had very liberal views about government, whereas Hoover was a conservative. His most significant philosophy was that there should be unprecedented government actions during what he thought was an unprecedented time. In his presidential speech, he notes, “These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men” (National Archives and Records Administration 1). He used the government’s money to help Americans start to pick themselves back up, known as government stimulus spending. Some people feared that he was shifting towards socialism because of how centralized he made the federal government. Nevertheless, this was only to help Americans get back on their feet and create a safety net for the nation.
What Efforts Did FDR Make During the Great Depression?
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President Roosevelt’s 1st New Deal came during 1933 and was the main component that pulled America out of the Great Depression. (His 2nd New Deal came in 1935.) It aimed to fix the economy, help and protect the people, and was one of FDR’s most prominent actions. The Deal reformed banking in America, stabilized the stock market, and stimulated the economy by creating jobs for the unemployed. The New Deal was accompanied by the three R’s: Relief, Recovery, and Reform.
This video by John Green gives an overall picture of how the New Deal affected America and the reforms that were made at that time
The relief factor of the New Deal focused on providing temporary help to Americans who were unemployed and suffering. A major example of this was “The Federal Emergency Relief Administration[, which] temporarily supported nearly five million households each month with financial aid, and funded thousands of work projects for the unemployed” (Danzer 134). Just like unemployment checks nowadays, these were only temporary funds to help the citizens support themselves and their families while they found jobs. Additionally, FDR declared a bank holiday. For the bank holiday, “From March 6 to March 10, banking transactions were suspended across the nation except for making change” ("A Bank Holiday” 1). During this period, FDR got Congress to pass the Emergency Banking Act, which allowed the president to reopen banks and give loans to other banks to help them reopen. Banks were so important to relieve the citizens because if the banks were fixed, people would be able to take out loans and manage their money again.
The recovery part of the New Deal surrounded boosting the economy using government money. One recovery reform was the creation of the Works Progress Administration. This “Provided long term government jobs building schools and other public works projects” (Jackson 1). The creation of jobs like these for the unemployed helped the economy stabilize. By giving people jobs, unemployment rates decreased and coincidently the economy started to increase as people started to collect income again. Furthermore, the Home Owners Loan Corporation helped keep people from going homeless. Through this corporation, the government gave money to homeowners so they could pay their mortgages. This also prevented banks from failing because the citizens had to give money to the banks in order to eventually pay their loans.
The reform component of the New Deal aimed towards making sure an event similar to the Great Depression would not occur again. One of the biggest reforms was the Social Security Act of 1935. The Social Security Act “protects citizens from poverty during retirement, and provides temporary relief for involuntary unemployed Americans and families seeking new jobs — a program known as Unemployment Insurance” (Danzer 135). Surprisingly social security still exists today in the American system of government. Citizens receive monthly checks from the government after the age of 62. This money is taken from everyone’s pensions and is then distributed to the elderly so that they will not suffer from poverty and starvation. Moreover, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was set up by FDR. At the time, this agency promised to insure $5,000 to every depositor throughout the banks. In other words, in the case that the bank shut down, a member of the bank would receive $5,000 dollars, no matter how much he or she had put into their savings account. The FDIC also still exists today, and now each citizen with a bank account is insured $100,000 dollars if the bank shuts down. This reform would make sure that people would not automatically go into poverty if the economy got bad again and banks started to shut down. They would have a bit of a safety net to keep their family fed while they started to accumulate their savings again.